Thursday, October 22, 6:00-10:00 pm - Charlottesville City Council Chambers, City Hall, 2nd floor, 605 E. Main Street. No advance sign-up: arrive by 5:45 pm and register with the Commission's bailiff. Each speaker gets five minutes.
This is the moment our community has been working toward - the one local, in-person chance to be heard on the record. Mark the evening and bring a neighbor.
Following hearing requests from residents, Albemarle County, PEC, and Historic
Keswick Properties, the SCC moved the case into a formal hearing schedule - and the
local hearing is now set. Every date lives in the red schedule below.
New in the case
Virginia Outdoors Foundation: easements are no bar to undergrounding.
The foundation holding open-space easements on 16 properties along the route told DEQ those easements are no bar to burying the line - directly disputing Dominion's application - and offered to help assess the underground options.
What this means: Dominion says burying the line is impractical partly because of these easements. The organization that holds them just said otherwise - strengthening the case for underground alternatives.
Speak in person on October 22, testify by telephone on November 10, or submit comments through November 23. The formal evidentiary hearing follows on December 2.
What this means: The case moves through these dates. Yours to act on: October 22 in person, November 3 to register for the phone hearing, November 23 for written comments.
Written comments are open through November 23 - about five minutes with the SCC's online form. You can also register by November 3 to testify by phone on November 10 - five minutes, no trip to Richmond. Do one or do both - each adds to the record.
Dominion, the formal respondents, and SCC Staff argue the technical and legal evidence in Richmond - the closest thing this case has to a trial. The Hearing Examiner's findings go to the Commission for the final decision.
What this means: Not a public-comment session - open to observe, but residents' moments are October 22, November 10, and November 23.
It's required legal notice - here's what it is and what to do.
The SCC's July 21 ruling required Dominion to mail affected property owners a new notice of the case schedule - the same dates in the red band below. So the mailer isn't new news; it's the official version of what this site already tracks.
What this means: If you received one, you don't need to do anything - but the participation deadlines in it are real: November 3 to register to speak, November 23 for comments. If you're near the route and did NOT receive one, you can still participate fully - and it's worth telling the SCC: mention the missed notice in your public comment or call the SCC Clerk's Office at (804) 371-9141.